Bjorn Phau ousts Lukas Rosol to cruise into quarters – Mercedes Cup 2012
Local challenger, Bjorn Phau, edged past the Czech star, Lukas Rosol, in two sets’ tie-breaker at the Mercedes Cup 2012 on Wednesday. He jolted down a 7-6(3), 7-6(2) victory against the world number 103 to book a place in the quarter-finals at this ATP (Association
of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event taking place in Stuttgart, Germany.
Phau displayed brilliant skills to dump the Czech, who caused the biggest upset at the Wimbledon Championships 2012 after stunning Rafael Nadal, in straight sets at the Tennis Club Weissenhof. After stealing the spotlight in almost two hours, the German
assertively progressed into the final eight.
"He has a very strong serve, strong groundstrokes, didn’t give me a lot of rhythm," Phau stated in a post match interview. "I played a really good tie-break in both sets. He’s a very difficult player to play mentally."
The 32-year-old made a powerful entry at this outdoor clay court tournament and held his opening serve to level the scores at 1-1. Phau then held his remaining serves until he drew the first blood in the ninth game and put his nose ahead. Despite lavishing
his lead in the very next game, the German stayed calm and not only dragged the set to a tie-breaker but dominated in it to click the opener with a 7-6(3) success.
Ranked 81st in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Phau kept momentum sailing and plucked his entire serves after brushing off all four breakpoints he faced. However, he failed to seek any break opportunity and took the set to the
tie-breaker. The German displayed his class again in it and carved out the victory with a 7-6(2) score line.
Next challenge for Phau is the top seed, Janko Tipsarevic, who tumbled over Steve Darcis in straight sets to set up this battle.
Another local contestant, Dustin Brown, also stole the show later that day. He smashed 19 aces to nudge up a 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-1 victory against the French contestant, Benoit Paire, in their first meeting. The wildcard entrant dusted away nine out of 11 breakpoints
he faced and cashed in three out of four break chances to earn the limelight.
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